


Home is Here With You (And You)

by GoldenDaydreams, stupiddragon



Series: OT3-Catch Feelings [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Banter, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Happy Ending, It's like a two for one deal, M/M, Minor Injuries, Multi, OT3, Polyamory, Serious Injuries, fic with art
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-04-21 08:55:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22058926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenDaydreams/pseuds/GoldenDaydreams, https://archiveofourown.org/users/stupiddragon/pseuds/stupiddragon
Summary: After an explosive event brings the dangers of their jobs to the forefront of their minds; Gavin, Nines, and Tina take steps to settle properly into their lifetogether.
Relationships: Tina Chen/Gavin Reed, Tina Chen/Upgraded Connor | RK900, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed, Upgraded Connor| RK900/ Gavin Reed/ Tina Chen
Series: OT3-Catch Feelings [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1557499
Comments: 12
Kudos: 55
Collections: New ERA Discord: Winter Big Bang





	Home is Here With You (And You)

**Author's Note:**

> The fic is by GoldenDaydreams, and the gorgeous art is by  
[stupiddragon on AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stupiddragon/pseuds/stupiddragon) /  
[sebblaze on insta](https://www.instagram.com/sebblaze/)

OCTOBER

The kitchen is at the back of the house, the large windows let in the early morning light. Nines looks out at the backyard, the mature lot is one of it’s finer points. The vegetable garden won’t last much longer, not with the cold coming in earlier than usual. There is a large oak tree that provides a good amount of shade during the summer months, but currently has just ensured that the yard needs to be raked. Again. 

The blender is jarringly loud, and Nines lowers his audio sensitivity until Tina turns it off. She twists the pitcher off the base, and pours her thick smoothie into a large glass. She always has one after their morning run. After a glance at her watch, she chugs half of her smoothie, and then kisses Nines on the cheek. 

He can hear Gavin coming down the stairs, and the man comes in as Tina leaves. Gavin barely lifts his feet as he gravitates toward the coffee machine, already set up by Nines before they left, and set to a timer. Gavin blindly grabs a mug (#1 Auntie) and fills it with coffee, he adds two sugars, stirs, and sets the spoon in the sink. 

“Good morning, Gavin.”

Gavin made a humming sound, acknowledging the words, but refusing to actually talk. It wasn’t out of the norm, Gavin wasn’t really a functional person until after his first cup of coffee. They sit at the kitchen island on the mismatched stools in a companionable silence. Nines catching himself up on world news, while Gavin is on his phone, slowly scrolling, and occasionally taking a sip of his coffee. 

Tina returns in uniform, she takes the elastic off her wrist, and goes to flick Gavin with it, but he catches one of her hands in his. He glares at her. “What do you want?” 

“Braid it.” 

He sets his phone aside, and stands when she sits on the other stool. It had surprised Nines the first time he’d seen Gavin do this, but discovered during one of their many late night chats that Gavin used to do this for some of his foster-sisters, and eventually got decent with simple hairstyles.

“You know,” she says, slow enough that it creates a tension in the room, “the three of us have been together for nearly a year now.” 

Gavin holds the braid at the halfway point, makes eye contact with Nines over Tina’s shoulder, and makes a show of rolling his eyes before reaching out for his coffee. 

“And a wonderful year it has been,” Nines says, taking her hand, brushing his thumb over her knuckles. 

“It’s a long time to be keeping this secret from everyone in our lives,” Tina says. “I agreed to keep this on the down-low when we were still figuring things out, when we weren’t sure about the longterm, but we can’t keep this to ourselves forever.” 

“If it’s found out that Nines and I are in a relationship, we’ll be given new partners.” Gavin ties off Tina’s hair. “And you know I hate pretty much everyone else.” 

“Well, Christmas is only a few months off, and I want to actually be able to tell my brothers that I’m in a relationship, I don’t want to introduce you two as my friends-”

“I’ve already met Jake-”

“You haven’t met Henry,” she says, looking over her shoulder. “Or Jake’s wife, or the kiddos!”

“Here we go,” Gavin mutters, grabbing his coffee. 

She glares at him. “Nice, asshole.”

Nines gets where Tina is coming from. It’s too big of a secret to keep hidden indefinitely, and he doesn’t want to. He’s proud to be theirs, and for them to be his. Yet, the thought of someone else, someone less efficient, someone less dedicated watching Gavin’s very reckless behind terrifies Nines. “We don’t have to make this decision right now,” he says, trying to keep the little tiff between them from becoming an actual fight- it wouldn’t be the first time this topic set the two off. “We should plan something for our anniversary, we have so much love to celebrate.” 

Gavin snorts. “You’re so fucking cheesy.” 

Tina aims an elbow back, and catches Gavin in the ribs. “Shut up, it’s sweet! Oh! Chris was telling me about this fall festival coming up, that might be fun.” 

“Or, how about something not lame,” Gavin argues, but it seems more like arguing for the sake of arguing.

“We need to be leaving soon,” Nines says, watching the time and traffic patterns. He doesn’t want them to be late, but he also wants to stop them from fighting. 

Gavin checks the time on his watch, chugs back the rest of his coffee, and puts his mug in the sink. The three of them head to the door. Gavin grabs his running shoes, and shoves his feet into them without undoing the laces. Tina grabs her coat off the hook on the wall.

“Either of you know where I put my jacket?” It’s not on one of the hooks, and Gavin pokes his head into the living room, he often throws his jackets on the back of the couch, much to Tina’s annoyance. 

“If we all officially lived in the same place, this wouldn’t be a problem. All of your wardrobe would be in one house,” Tina says. Another frequent argument. 

“You left it at your apartment two nights ago,” Nines said. He left out the part where he’d told Gavin that the temperatures would be dipping by ten degrees over the next few days, but Gavin hadn’t listened, or perhaps thought they’d end up at his apartment before then. “You can take mine.” 

Gavin doesn’t even look at the offered charcoal grey knee-length wool coat. “Hard pass,” he says opening the door. “See you two at work.” 

The breeze comes in cold, and Tina kicks it shut. “Do you think he’s ever going to be ready to admit we’re all together?” 

“Yes,” Nines replies confidently, tying the laces on his dress shoes. “He just has his fears.” 

“You’re not exactly helping me convince him.” 

Nines sighs. “Perhaps I have my own fears.” 

Tina gives a small nod, and pats down her pockets, locating her keys. “You two are going to figure it out sooner, rather than later, right?” 

“Baby steps,” he says. “Perhaps letting your family know first would help ease him into the idea.” 

“You two just want to stay partners.” 

“I just want to keep him safe. I don’t get the option with you, but- Gavin is-” 

“A reckless dipshit?” 

He shuts down the urge to laugh. “I was going to put it a bit more politely than that.” 

“But I’m not wrong.”

“You’re rarely wrong, Officer Chen,” he replies, grabbing her hat and placing it carefully upon her head. “We should go before traffic worsens.” 

She sneaks in one last kiss, and they’re out the door.

::

Despite the fact that the three of them take separate vehicles, Tina arrives only a minute after Nines does, and they enter the building together. She swipes her ID card to get through the turnstile. Nines waves his right hand over the reader, and continues through. She makes her way to her workstation without a word, and he hears her greet her partner, Chris Miller. 

Gavin is already at his desk with another coffee. “Good morning, Gavin,” Nines says for the second time in the day. 

“’Morning, Nines,” Gavin replies without looking at him. Nines pauses to see what has Gavin’s attention, it isn’t a new case, the man is just going through his work emails, and deleting spam messages. 

Nines takes a seat at his own work station, watching as Tina and Chris leave for patrols. He knows they all have dangerous jobs, but important ones, fulfilling ones, ones that he wouldn’t stop the humans from doing, but nothing can stop the fear that something might happen to one of them. Especially Tina, since he’s not there to do anything to prevent it. 

She turns as she’s going, gives a small smile and a nod, but most of her attention is on Chris, and the story he’s telling about his son, Damien. She laughs, and Nines forces himself to focus on his own job. 

Nines notices Hank approaching in his peripheral, and turns toward him. “Do we have a new case, Lieutenant?” 

“Not much information to go on,” Hank says. “Anonymous caller found a body in an abandoned building.” 

“Anything on the preliminary investigation?” Gavin asks. 

“No officers are even out there yet,” Hank admits. “You know we’re still incredibly short-staffed.” 

It was true. Since the revolution, the police department was working with one third of it’s former staff, they hadn’t been able to recover their numbers yet, and as a result Gavin and Nines had worked two robberies the week before, as well as took a call for a domestic dispute simply because there wasn’t anyone else to go. 

Gavin pointedly looks at Hank’s empty hands. “And Fowler didn’t give you and Connor a case?” 

“We’re still working that triple homicide from yesterday,” Hank replies. “But by all means, if you want to work that mess-”

“Nah, I’m good,” Gavin says standing, and turning off his monitor. “Mystery body is ours.” 

Nines wears his jacket out into the parking lot before he takes it off, and shoves it at Gavin’s chest. “Just wear it, I don’t want you to get sick. It doesn’t mean anything other than I don’t want to hear you whine about having a sore throat.” 

“I don’t whine.” 

Nines doesn’t dignify the comment with a response, and gets into the car. When Gavin gets in, he’s wearing the coat. Nines counts it as a win. 

::

The automated police vehicle stops two warehouses away from the address listed in the report to preserve the potential crime scene as much as possible. Both detectives exit the car, and pull their weapons. The warehouse in question is in the middle of a dozen other abandoned warehouses. “Squatters paradise,” Gavin comments, looking around. “Any idea why this area is so empty?”

Upon a quick search, Nines comes up with the most probable answer. “The area is in the process of being rezoned from industrial to commercial.” 

“Like we all don’t just buy everything online these days,” Gavin says. They make their way to the warehouse, doing quick checks of the alleys between. It’s unlikely they’d run across their perpetrator, but someone trespassing wasn’t out of the question. 

They move together, a cohesive unit. They know each other’s moves, and they don’t need to speak. There isn’t anything of note outside of the building, and Nines goes to one side of the door, while Gavin goes to the other, the man reaching out for the handle. Nines gives a nod, and Gavin pushes it open, Nines goes in first, and even without his proximity sensors, he would know that Gavin was right behind him. 

Nines can take in information, and process it faster than a human. He never brings it up, doesn’t want them to feel inadequate. He takes in the old conveyor belts, large machines set up along the line, they’re old and collecting dust. One of the machines looks gutted, perhaps one of it’s components was worth something. He notices the clock on the wall that’s likely been stuck at 8:34 for years. It’s dusty and there are cobwebs, and yet there is a pristine box on the floor that sets off every alarm bell in his head. It doesn’t belong._ It doesn’t belong. _

He turns and shoves Gavin toward the door with the command to ‘run!’ Gavin doesn’t fight, Nines doesn’t know if Gavin saw the box and had the same gut-feeling that Nines did, or if it’s a simple matter of the absolute trust between partners, but Gavin runs. Nines sends out a distress call, adjusts his pacing to keep behind Gavin, shielding him the best he can. The concussive blast knocks them both off their feet. 

He’s partially on the floor, partially on Gavin, and Nines rolls to his side, taking his substantial weight off of Gavin. Nines’s systems immediately bombard him with warnings, and damage reports. 

[COMPONENT #345B DAMAGED: INTEGRITY COMPROMISED]   
[THIRIUM LINE #211 COMPROMISED.]  
[WARNING: THIRIUM AT 89%]  
[SUGGESTED ACTION: SHUT DOWN DISTRIBUTION TO THIRIUM LINE #211. LOCATE NEAREST CYBERLIFE FACILITY FOR REPLACEMENT COMPONENT #345B]  
[WARNING: THIRIUM AT 85%]  
[SUGGESTED ACTION: SHUT DOWN DISTRIBUTION TO THIRIUM LINE #211. LOCATE NEAREST CYBERLIFE FACILITY FOR REPLACEMENT COMPONENT #345B]

It’s nothing compared to the way that Gavin is screaming. Nines can’t _feel_ his injuries. Gavin is bleeding from his leg, but the man is also cradling his wrist to his chest. 

[WARNING: THIRIUM AT 81%]  
[SUGGESTED ACTION: SHUT DOWN DISTRIBUTION TO THIRIUM LINE #211. LOCATE NEAREST CYBERLIFE FACILITY FOR REPLACEMENT COMPONENT #345B]

He shuts down distribution to Thirium to line #211, and loses sensation below the knee, it’s dead weight, and he drags himself closer to Gavin, and it’s easy to see where the blood is coming from. Gavin has three nails in his leg, one of which went head first, punching a hole in his leg. A jagged piece of metal sticks out a few inches above the nails. Nines doesn’t touch any of it, knowing it will only make it worse. 

They were lucky. The explosive radius was relatively small, and their saving grace was that they weren’t too close to it, and some of the large machines took a portion of the damage. 

“Gavin, you’re going to be okay,” he says, none of the man’s wounds are critical, no major artery has been hit. Nines is most concerned about muscle or tendon damage. Gavin doesn’t seem to even hear him, either too lost to the pain, or the blast could have damaged his hearing. Nines touches Gavin’s shoulder, and the man looks up, tense with pain. “You’re going to be okay, I’m here.” 

The man looks more terrified. “What?” He shouts. 

Nines puts his finger up to his lips, and looks around. Given the fact that there was no way of predicting th response times for the responding officers, whoever the bomber was had to have remotely detonated, and must have been close enough to see Nines and Gavin walk in. 

He spots Gavin’s weapon, knocked from his hand during the blast, against the door. Nines doesn’t immediately see his own, and has no intention to look for it. He drags himself, pushing with his good leg, reaches out, and grabs the gun. 

Gavin is staring down at his leg when Nines sits up. The man keeps his one arm to his chest, the other shakily reaches for his injured leg and Nines intercepts, grabbing Gavin’s wrist, fingers over his pulse point, and keeping track of the racing heartbeat. “Don’t touch it.”

Nines manages to reconnect with dispatch, a fellow android named Amber. She forwards an information packet, even as he’s sending an update on their situation. 

[/09:23- DISTRESS CALL FROM RK900 RECEIVED- BOMB DETONATED, 2 OFFICERS DOWN, ONE HUMAN, ONE ANDROID, IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED/ 09:23- CPT. JEFFREY FOWLER INFORMED/ 09:23- CPT. VICTOR ALLEN INFORMED AND GIVEN LEAD FOR CONTAINMENT OF SCENE & RECOVERY OF INJURED OFFICERS/ 09:23- EMS AND MRU INFORMED AND ENROUTE/ 09:25- SWAT UNIT- TEAM ONE- ENROUTE/ ESTIMATED ARRIVAL ON SCENE 09:43/] 

“We’re going to be okay, stay awake, I know you’re hurting,” Nines says. He’s not hurt, he can’t feel pain, but he can feel fear. Gavin isn’t acting like his usual self. He’s trembling, and Nines fears the man is on the edge of a panic attack. “SWAT and EMS are enroute.” 

Gavin shakes his head, tries to tug his hand away, but Nines tightens his grip, needing to keep track of Gavin’s heart-rate for his own sanity. 

“Nines,” Gavin says at regular volume, frowns, then yells, “Nines you okay?” 

Nines nods. He keeps his fingers over Gavin’s pulse, but brushes his thumb back and forth, hoping it soothes Gavin’s nerves a little. 

Gavin shifts a little, hissing out a breath. Nines leans in closer. “Stay still,” he says, as loud as he dares, keeping an eye on the door. 

Tense minutes pass as Nines tries to do everything he can to keep Gavin quiet, but alert. In the distance, Nines hears the sirens, and a wave of relief flows through his systems, it isn’t enough to let him drop his weapon, in fact, he raises it and keeps it aimed at the door, just in case the incoming wave of officers sends the perpetrator running in. It is unlikely, but not impossible, and he’s not taking the risk, not with Gavin’s safety in his hands. 

The door opens, and he registers the two faces. 

[CPT. VICTOR ALLEN /HEIGHT 5.9FT. WEIGHT 165LBS./ DATE OF BIRTH 12.02.1994]  
[OFFICER ALEXA LEE/ HEIGHT 5.7FT. WEIGHT 144LBS./ DATE OF BIRTH 04.22.1997]

Nines immediately lowers his weapon, and the two of them follow suit. 

“How are you two doing?” Allen asks, kneeling down while Alexa watches their backs. 

“Gavin requires immediate medical attention,” Nines replies. 

Allen gives Nines a calculating once over, particularly fixated on the pool of thirium on the floor. “And you?”

“I need repairs, but they’re non-critical, and not time sensitive,” Nines replies. “The damage looks worse than it is.” 

“I’ll take your word for it,” Allen replies. 

“Air quality is decreasing,” Nines says. Between the smoke and the dust kicked up by the blast, it’s going to become more difficult for the humans to breathe. 

Allen is still crouched, a tightness around his eyes. “Burnhart, give medical clearance, keep them from disrupting the crime scene as much as possible. Lee, you’re on the bomb, I want to know everything-”

“You got it, boss,” she pulls up a breathing apparatus from her belt, fits it on her face, and walks into the smoky room.

Nines could hack the comms, but last time an android was found on an unauthorized channel they were suspended without pay. Hacking isn’t worth the risk of having a negative mark on his pristine record. He knows about Captain Allen through Connor, as well as a few other members of the force who’d either worked with him, or feared him during the revolution. Nines himself has never had a reason to work with the man, but he and his team are highly regarded for their skills, and in that skill, Nines trusts.   
  
“The rest of you, expand the search.” Allen glances over at the door, nods seemingly to himself before he stood and walked around Nines, he opened the door, kept it open with his back. 

[OFFICER LOGAN BURNHART/HEIGHT 6.3FT. WEIGHT 190LBS./ DATE OF BIRTH 01.01.2000]

Behind him, two paramedics.

[MP600/ SERIAL NUMBER REQUIRED FOR IDENTIFICATION/ HEIGHT 5.7FT. WEIGHT 145LBS./ ACTIVATION DATE UNKNOWN]  
[KHOI MINH/ HEIGHT 5.9FT. WEIGHT 155LBS./ DATE OF BIRTH 07.22.1993]

And behind him, a technician in their Mobile Repair Unit uniform.  
  
[AC700/ SERIAL NUMBER REQUIRED FOR IDENTIFICATION/ HEIGHT 5.8FT. WEIGHT 150lbs./ ACTIVATION DATE UNKNOWN]

Nines squeezes Gavin’s wrist, and when he pulls away, Gavin frantically reaches out and manages to grab Nines’s hand. Nines squeezes his fingers, brushes his thumb over Gavin’s knuckles. “It’s okay, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.” 

“I can’t hear for shit,” Gavin says, loud enough to cause concern. “Nines-”

And so Nines leans in close to Gavin’s ear, and raises his voice. “I am not leaving you.” He does however reactivate thirium distribution to line #211, the circulation giving him readings for component #345B, warnings flashing as he stands, getting out of the way of the paramedics. 

[COMPONENT #345B DAMAGED: INTEGRITY COMPROMISED]   
[THIRIUM LINE #211 COMPROMISED.]  
[WARNING: THIRIUM AT 79%]  
[SUGGESTED ACTION: SHUT DOWN DISTRIBUTION TO THIRIUM LINE #211. LOCATE NEAREST CYBERLIFE FACILITY FOR REPLACEMENT COMPONENT #345B]

He wobbles slightly, the damage to his leg is severe. The component is so compromised that what little of his frame in that area remains begins to bend under his own weight. He shifts his stance to his other leg, staying as out of the way as possible for the paramedics to work. 

[COMPONENT #345B DAMAGED: INTEGRITY COMPROMISED]   
[THIRIUM LINE #211 COMPROMISED.]  
[WARNING: THIRIUM AT 77%]  
[SUGGESTED ACTION: SHUT DOWN DISTRIBUTION TO THIRIUM LINE #211. LOCATE NEAREST CYBERLIFE FACILITY FOR REPLACEMENT COMPONENT #345B]

He ignores the suggestions, blocks the warnings, and only keeps a monitor on his thirium levels. The AC700 approaches, but Nines’s attention is on the care Gavin is getting. The two paramedics work well together, and as far as Nines can tell are giving Gavin the best care possible. Still, this thirium feels like the Pop-Rocks that Tina sprinkled on his tongue just to see what would happen. 

“RK900, you need to be treated,” the AC700 says, extending a hand while their skin slips back, a diagnostic. 

[WARNING: THIRIUM AT 75%]

A quarter of his thirium lost in minutes, but he doesn’t want to leave. Gavin is flesh, blood, and bone, he’s so much more fragile, shaking and sweating on the floor. Nines promised Gavin he would stay. 

Still, he grabs the AC700 by the wrist, and as their hand wraps around his a connection is created. He permits them access to the incessant warnings, but keeps walls up around everything else. 

Nines feels the technician’s irritation through the link. He feels them push in his systems trying to shut down thirium line #211, and he disconnects from them immediately. 

“You’re causing yourself further harm,” they say. 

“I’m not in danger,” Nines replies. He won’t let it get that far. Even knowing he can’t do anything for his partner, he can’t leave him alone either. 

“At the rate in which you’re losing thirium, yes, you are,” the technician argues. 

Their words don’t matter. The stretcher with Gavin on it is lifted, and the paramedics start to wheel him away. Gavin is a little wide-eyed, panicked, but when they land on Nines, he settles a little but his hand flips over, palm up, beckoning. 

Nines follows, powerless to do anything else. 

[WARNING: THIRIUM AT 72%]

He limps, trying not to keep his weight on his damaged leg for any time that isn’t absolutely necessary to keep him going forward. 

He stops beside the stretcher as the paramedics pause outside of the ambulance. He takes Gavin’s hand, knowing he has to leave him. While the fix is easy, but it will likely take a while to find a replacement #345B, that is, if they don’t have to order one custom. 

Gavin grimaces, shifting, sweating and shivering. “Go. I saw your leg. Go get it fixed.” 

“Gavi-” he cuts himself off when a familiar voice triggers his audio sensors. He turns them up, and isolates her voice. 

“Where are they? Are they okay- get your fucking hands off of me!” Tina’s voice pitches, and she sounds just on the edge of hysterical. “I’m a fucking cop, asshole! Look at my damn uniform! Where are they? Let me go!” 

Nines turns to where the police tape is strung across street from building to building, emergency vehicles on both sides, flashing lights a minor distraction. It’s the frantic kicking that has him locking onto Tina, one of the SWAT team is dragging her back toward the police tape. The name on the back of his uniform identifies him as [BURNHART]. 

Nines desperately wants to step in, to take that man’s hands off of her and settle her down, to hold her tight in the wake of all that has happened, to hear her heartbeat- it might be too fast now, but he knows how to calm her down. He can’t bear the way she screams, the way she pleads for someone to just tell her, _‘are they okay? Just tell me they’re alive, please!’_

Allen approaches them, and Nines doesn’t have time to recalibrate his audio processors to catch what he says, but Tina’s fight stops, and Burnhart releases her. Allen’s body language reads as no-nonsense, powerful, and authoritative, and Tina is nodding, and then they’re both walking over. 

He sees it in the moment she sees them, the relief, her body poised in a second to sprint forward before she reigns herself in, eyes flicking over to Allen. He escorts her to them, likely trying to keep anything else from contaminating the crime scene. 

“She’s going with Reed,” Allen says to the paramedics, the MP600 gives a sharp nod in response. Allen then glances at Tina. “Don’t make me regret my leniency.” 

She shakes her head, and he stalks off. She waits half a second and then is looking them both over with a critical eye. “Fuck. Are you- is he- I…” Her eyes are red-rimmed, and glassy, the pop-rock in his thirium feeling gets worse. 

“We will both be fine. Gavin needs to go to the hospital. I need minor repairs.” 

“Minor?” she snaps sounding back on the verge of her earlier hysterics. “Minor? The lower half of your pant leg is soaked in- oh God, that’s your blood, oh God. What the fuck were you thinking? Why were you in there? You work with dead bodies, not fucking bombs, holy fuck, holy fuck!” She paces, three quick steps one way, then a swift pivot on her heel, another three steps. 

“T-” Gavin reaches for her, but she steps out of range before he can get a hold. 

“Why do you two insist on being partners? Huh? So things like this can happen? So- so that- so I lose both of you?” 

“Tina-” Nines grabs her wrist, and she tries to pull away, but he’s stronger, and he pulls her into his chest, holds her while she squirms and berates him. She’s typically calm, cool, and collected, but she has her moments, and he knows her now. Nines knows she’s acting out of fear, holds her when she tries to push him away, waits it out, it doesn’t take long before she isn’t pushing but her arms are around him, her fingers twisting in the back of his dress shirt, he feels her body shake with her sobs, feels his shirt becoming damp with her tears. 

One of her hands loosen, she turns her face toward Gavin, but maintains contact with Nines’s chest. She reaches, and holds Gavin’s hand. 

“You two assholes scared the hell out of me,” she says. 

“What?” Gavin yells. 

“We need to get him to the hospital,” Khoi says. 

Nines presses a kiss to Tina’s temple. “Go with him, I’ll join you as soon as I’m able.” 

She pulls him down for a kiss, quick and hard. “It better be soon,” she says before she rubs her hands over her face, riding herself of as much evidence of tears as she can before she waits for the stretcher to be pushed fully into the ambulance, and following Gavin inside. 

The AC700 approaches once more. “Are you ready now?” 

[WARNING: THIRIUM AT 63%]

He nods, limping along as the ambulance speeds off. 

:: 

Gavin’s bed would be comfortable for two people, but was a tight fit for the three of them. After he had been released from the hospital, where they would stay had become a matter of his comfort. Tina’s house had stairs up to the bedroom, and Nines didn’t have human amenities in his small box of an android apartment, thus staying at Gavin’s had been a no-brainer. 

Nines walks into the bedroom with a glass of water, and Gavin’s pills. The doctors were hopeful for Gavin’s full recovery, but that recovery would take time. 

The technicians had cleared Nines once he’d been retrofitted with an RK800 part while his own #345b was on back order, the minor height difference made it look as though he had a bit of a limp, which Gavin had teased him about for the past week, and Tina had been suspiciously quiet on. 

His humans are already in bed. He can only really see the top of Tina’s head, her body all tucked in, the blanket over half of her face. She’s pressed right up against Gavin, who has his one leg on the blankets while most of his torso, and his other leg is covered. The bandages are wrapped tight, and the cane he uses to walk while the muscle heals is leaning against the bedside dresser. 

Tina grumbles when Gavin sits up just enough to take the pill, shove it in his mouth, and chases it with a sip of water. “Thanks,” he says when Nines takes the glass, and sets it down on the coaster. Gavin settles back against the pillow, and Tina worms her way back under his arm, her head on his shoulder. She yanks the blanket up a bit further, nearly up to her eyes. 

Nines walks around the bed, mildly irritated about the disruption of his gait, and joins them under the blankets. Tina reaches back for him, gets a hold of his hand and tries to pull it over her hip. He rolls to his side to accommodate her silent request. 

“You know, it’s kind of nice that none of us need an alarm in the morning,” Gavin says, shifting his injured leg on the small pillow. 

It was true. Gavin is on medical leave. Nines is benched until he received his replacement component, and Captain Fowler had given him a not too subtle reminder that androids also could receive mental health leave. Tina has taken her vacation time. She said it was so she could take them to their appointments, but there were moments where Nines remembered the way she’d screamed for them, the fear and desperation in her voice, and thought it had more to do with her emotional state than she would admit. 

They still hadn’t talked about what happened, and it hung over them, a knife waiting to fall. It was only a matter of time. 

While he couldn’t see the lines of her tattoo, he still traced them with his fingertips from memory. She shifted, always careful not to jostle Gavin too much, and managed to drape her knee over Gavin’s good leg, and press one of her cold feet against Nines’s leg. 

“People know we’re all together now,” Tina says. 

Plenty of officers had seen them together, and while it could have been played off as just close friends, it had been getting to the point where omitting the truth felt a lot like outright lying, and the thought of denying his love for either of them after everything felt a lot like corrupted data, empty and hollow. 

“It would make more sense if we all lived in one place,” she says. “You’re both renting, and I’m paying a mortgage.” 

Gavin sighs. “I guess.” 

“What? Do you not want to live together?” Tina asks, and Nines can feel her tense under his fingers.

“Of course I do,” Gavin replies. “Moving is a pain in the ass though. I’ve heard enough of your bitching about how small my apartment is that I know we won’t end up here.” 

“Obviously my apartment-”

“You live in a box,” Gavin interrupts Nines before he can get very far. “A box with no toilet-”

“I do not require such facilities.”

“We do!” 

“My place is probably big enough,” Tina says. 

“Yeah, but it’s yours,” Gavin says. “If we’re doing this, we should find a place that suits all of us.” 

She nods, nuzzles into Gavin’s chest. “That might be fun, house hunting with you two.” 

“It will be an unmitigated disaster,” Nines jokes. 

“And since I’ll be back to work next week, and Nines the week after, looks like you’ll be doing the bulk of the search,” Tina says. 

“Then I can tell you honestly if the master bedroom won’t accommodate a California king, we’re not living there,” Gavin says.

“We’re taking my sectional,” Tina says. “I paid way too much to sell it for couple hundred on some online marketplace.” 

“It’s so comfortable,” Gavin says. “Of course we’re taking it. And my bookshelf.”

“That will be a bitch to move,” Tina says.

“It’s solid wood-”

“It’s screwed into the wall.”

“I’ll unscrew it!”

Tina huffs out a breath.

“I like the bookcase,” Nines says. “It’s shows an impressive skill in woodworking.”

“Thank you,” Gavin say with enthusiasm. “And it’s much better than your three shitty Scandinavian ones, T.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Tina says without heat. “Mine hold more.”

Nines nuzzles against Tina’s shoulder. “We’re bringing your lamps right. I like those.” 

“Yes. Two of them were gifts from my mom, we’re bring them. Oh, those metal wall art pieces you have, Ni,” she says, her feet rubbing against his calves. “I really like those.” 

“We should probably see the house and layout before we make these decisions,” Gavin says.

“Minimum two bathrooms or bust,” Tina says. 

“We at least need one guest room,” Nines says. 

“Big backyard,” Tina whispers sounding on the edge of sleep. 

“Oooh, if we get a basement, we could probably have an at home gym,” Gavin says. “It would save us money in the long run.” 

“I like taking the group Zumba classes,” Tina mutters. 

“But you’re graceless.”

“Piss off, and shut up, I’m tired.” 

Gavin kisses the top of her head. “Man cave then.”

“I’ll kick your bad leg,” she threatens. 

Still pressed against Tina’s back, Nines lays his hand over Gavin’s heart. Gavin smiles, soft and sleepy as he rests his own hand over Nines’s. Gavin mouths ‘I love you’ but his eyes are shut before Nines can mouth it back. 

  
NOVEMBER

The days of Gavin’s medical leave bleed together, they’re more or less the same, spiced up with the occasional doctor’s appointment. When he walks into the kitchen, Nines is already there, dressed in a black button-up, and a pair of pinstriped navy blue slacks, far too overdressed to be making a healthy breakfast- something he’s been doing since Gavin was released from the hospital. 

“I can do that,” Gavin grumbles. It’s early, he hasn’t had caffeine, he’s grumpy, and his leg hurts but he’s trying to wean himself off the painkillers, and-

“I know,” Nines says, pleasant as ever. “But I wish to aid you in what ways I can.” His blue-grey eyes trail down to the fresh bandages on Gavin’s leg. “Did you-”

“I can properly care for a fucking wound, Nines, it’s healing fine for fuck sake!” The words are out, and he immediately feels like shit when Nines’s face is reset back to default, and there is a blip of red circling around the mostly yellow LED. 

“Noted,” Nines says, turning to plate the omelet. 

The small table/cupboard/wine rack only fits two stools under it, and it never mattered because Gavin never bothered with entertaining guests before them. Now, he sat down where the plate was set. Nines usually sat with him, but instead, he redirected his attention to the dishes. 

If he were a better man, he’d apologize, but it would take admitting he’d done something wrong, and that had never sat well with him. 

He cuts into the omelet, and takes a bite. It’s a little plain, Nines cooks but has no sense of taste. “This is delicious,” Gavin says. 

Nines pauses in what he’s doing, looks over and smiles. “I’m glad you like it.” 

Nines definitely lets him get off the hook way too easily, but he’s not going to complain about it. He eats the rest of the omelet even though it would be worlds better with even just a little salt and pepper. 

Tina steps into the kitchen, full uniform, dark circles under her eyes. One glance at Nines, and Gavin knows that he sees it too. Neither are stupid enough to suggest she stay home, she’s out of vacation days anyway. She smiles at him, but it doesn’t touch her eyes. She kisses his cheek, before rubbing her hands over his jaw. “I don’t think I’ve seen you this scruffy before.” 

“Let me live, Chen.” 

He smile falls. “Are you going to be okay on your own? I’m sure I can get someone to cover my shift-”

“I’ll be fine,” Gavin insists. 

“What are you planning on doing today?”

“I’ll do some more virtual house hunting,” Gavin replies, and then just to be a dick, continues with, “maybe some squats, dead-lifts, maybe I’ll make my way to that cross-fit gym down the street-” he stops when he realizes she doesn’t look annoyed, she looks hurt. 

Two-for-two and not even eight am. 

“We should be leaving shortly,” Nines says. “An accident on the highway has cut one lane down, and congested other routes.” 

They both kiss him goodbye, so he supposes he’s still in their good graces. The quiet of their absence is shocking after weeks of being together. It’s nice in a way, the quiet, the way there is no one to do everything for him. His leg still hurts, but he’s not fucking bedridden. 

He stands on his good leg, grabs his cane with one hand, his empty plate with the other. He washes the plate, utensils, and coffee mug in the sink, stacks them in the dry rack with the frying pan, and the evidence of Tina’s typical breakfast smoothie. It’s about the most productive he’s felt since getting out of the hospital. 

He makes it to the living room, his leg aches, and occasionally flares with sharp pains, but it’s not the agony he remembers from the ground, the shock, and dizziness, the ringing in his ears-

He turns on the television, thankful that he hadn’t suffered permanent hearing damage, and that the ringing went away after a week. He slowly flips through the channels, past the news, the highlights from the hockey game, some game show, the shopping channel, next, next, next-

The cell-phone in the pocket of his sweatpants chimes, and he pulls it out. It’s Alexis, one of the few foster siblings he had that he kept in contact with. They were closer once, but now they were down to a couple phone calls a year, and she always sent him a Christmas card, whatever one with the most glitter she could find.

>ALLEY CAT> Is Johnny fucking with me?

He squints at the message. Johnny had been another kid in the last stop foster home for both Alexis and Gavin. Gavin had done his best to keep the kid on the straight and narrow even after he’d aged out of the system. Some kids just got dealt a shit hand, and Johnny certainly qualified. 

>GAVIN REED> ?  
>ALLEY CAT> He says you were hurt on the job! A bomb!?

Gavin feels his heart race at the mention alone. He swallows hard against the rising bile. 

>GAVIN REED> tis but a flesh wound.

His phone is ringing a second later, ALLEY CAT on his screen with REQUEST FOR VIDEO CALL. He doesn’t want to talk about it, but knows trying to avoid her won’t go over well. He swipes to answer, glad no one else is home. 

She looks a little different than the last time they talked. Her face is a little chubbier, and he would never be stupid enough to say it. 

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” 

“Hello to you too,” Gavin grumbles. 

“Hi. Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

“Sorry, was I supposed to call everyone I’ve ever known-”

“I’m your sister.” 

He feels properly shamed, and looks away from the camera. Three for three without even trying. He doesn’t point out the technicality of the fact that they were only foster siblings who had lived in the same house for eleven months, but it was the closest either of them had to home at that time, the closest thing to family, and she’d been loyal and stuck with him all these years later-

“Johnny knew for crying out loud!” 

“You’re eight months pregnant,” he says. “You’re not supposed to be stressed. Besides, it’s not that bad. It’s not like I lost my leg or something.” 

“Let me see.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously!” she snaps, reaches for something off screen, and then is gnawing at some red licorice. 

He reverses the camera and points it down at his bandaged leg. “See? Still got both my legs.” 

“You should have called me.” 

He reverses the camera again just so she can see it when he rolls his eyes. “I’m fine.” 

“Tell me you have someone taking care of you.” 

The cat is out of the bag at work, and he thought that was the only place where he had something to worry about, but the thought of telling Alexis that he has a girlfriend taking care of him… and also a boyfriend who is also taking care of him makes him profoundly nervous. 

“I… yeah, I do.” 

“Girlfriend, boyfriend?” 

“Uh. Yes? Both.” 

She pauses in biting the licorice, and squints. “Both? You asshole! How do you make sure they don’t come to bring you soup or whatever at the same time! And you manage to actually have something more than a one-night-stand, and you’re cheating-”

“No, no, just, no, fuck, hold up!” He rubs the bridge of his nose wishing he had taken those painkillers now. “They know about each other. They’re also dating each other. We’re… we’re all together.” 

“Together. Like… the three of you?”

He finds his body tense like he’s waiting for a blow that can’t come physically, but he knows her opinion has the power to hit harder than any punch.

“How-” she pauses, brows low, confusion on her face. Words slip through her lips slowly, like even she doesn’t know which one will come next, “how the actual fuck did you manage that?” 

“Got lucky,” is his cheeky response. 

She glares like she managed to read through the lines. “What are their names?” 

“Tina, and Nines.” 

“Nines?” 

The tension is back, deep in his shoulders. “Yeah, Nines. Short for RK900.” 

She blinks, the surprise clear on her face. “An android.” 

“Yeah, an android.” 

“I knew you’d gotten better with tolerating androids, didn’t know it went this far. And you love them?”

Gavin realizes he’s already nodding before he can formulate a proper answer. “They’re amazing.” It’s an understatement. He can’t formulate into words what it’s like to have them both in his life. “Way too good for me.” He thinks of Nines making him breakfast, and setting up internal timers for his antibiotics, and painkillers. Thinks of Tina using up her vacation time just to tend to him, her hand squeezing his before one of his doctors appointments. “Yeah… yeah, I love them.” 

“Then I’m happy for you. I mean, I still don’t know how you managed to pull that off- are they hot?”

He smirks. “Oh yeah.” 

“Unbelievable.” Alexis laughs. “Too bad we don’t live closer, I’d love to meet them.” 

She moved to Tennessee with her boyfriend five years earlier. They both kept promising to visit sometime, but neither actually made plans to do it. 

His recent close call put things in perspective. “Let me know when you’re ready for visitors after the kid comes. Maybe I’ll swing down… and maybe I’ll be able to bring Nines and Tina with me.” 

Alexis beams. “That sounds great.” 

They chat for a little while longer. Alexis talks about pregnancy stuff, and he pretends to be interested. They promise to keep in touch before they hang up, and Gavin lays down on the couch, tossing his phone to the coffee table. He’s not usually one to make plans, and he certainly has never considered introducing any of his flings to Alexis. He doesn’t want to think about the implications. 

Instead, he stares at the television, it seems to be the beginning of a movie, and he brings up the guide, frowns at the title, the synopsis of what is clearly a chick-flick. Looks cute though. And no one is around. He sets it to start at the beginning and settles in. 

::

After the movie, he does some house searching, but his mind keeps slipping back to the fact that he was such an asshole in the morning. He loves Tina, and Nines, enough that he even openly admitted it to Alexis. He thinks about the way he was an ass the morning with the bomb, dismissive, and irritated. He thinks about how much worse the aftermath of that bomb could have been- he could have died, and Nines could have been irreparably damaged.

Gavin goes around the apartment, and does his best to craft a little date night. He needs them to know that he really does love, and appreciate them even if he has a piss poor way of showing it sometimes. It’s not like he can go out, and get supplies, so he’s stuck working with what is in his apartment. It doesn’t amount to much. 

He sets out the physical DVD copies of movies Nines had shown interest in watching, but hadn’t yet gotten around to. Gavin balances on his good leg as much as possible as he tidies the living room: folding the two soft knit blankets, adjusting the one throw pillow he has, grabbing the snack wrappers from the night before, and bringing them to the trash. 

He takes out the candle that Tina had bought him, lights it, and sets it on the coffee table. Checking the time, he figures he can make a quick, simple meal before they get home from work, and goes through the kitchen figuring out what he can make with the supplies at hand. 

Grilled cheese and tomato soup isn’t exactly a four-star meal, but both Tina and Gavin find it comforting, so he sets to work. It isn’t until he hears the door open that he becomes nervous, starts second-guessing himself. It’s stupid, it’s not enough, and-

“Hey, smells good,” Tina’s already removed her hat, she walks into the kitchen with a soft smile that widens when she sees the food. “Nice! Did you put the hot salami in the grilled cheese?” 

He smirks. “Of course, only the best for you.” 

She kisses him gleefully, wrapping her arms around his neck, and putting more of her weight on him than she had since his injury. It sends a sharp pain through his leg, but he grinds his teeth, and holds her close. 

Nines is leaning in the doorway, watching them with a soft smile. “How did the house hunting go?” 

“I saw one that is a little more expensive than we wanted, but it’s closer to work, and just in an overall better neighbourhood.” He looks at his plate and bowl knowing he can’t carry both and use his cane. Nines grabs both before Gavin can protest, he follows Nines and Tina to the small table. “There is another house that’s further out of the way but is under budget, a bit bigger, big backyard with one hell of a garden.” 

Tina and Nines both perked up at that. Gavin didn’t fully understand their mutual love of gardening, but it was important to them, and so it was important for him to find a house that would accommodate their passion. 

“How was work?” Gavin asks, blowing on his soup before taking a mouthful, a little too hot, but delicious. 

“I have been assigned a new partner,” Nines says. 

Gavin stares into his soup. He knew it was coming. He knew that they would both be reassigned, but it still hit like a punch to the gut. “Who?”

“Detective Seth McKinney.” 

“Who the fuck is that?”

“Recent transfer, recently promoted.” 

“Well, that fills me with confidence,” Gavin grumbles. 

“He is smart,” Nines says. “A little over-eager to prove himself, perhaps, but he has the skills to be an impressive detective.”

“Saw you had a meeting with Fowler,” Tina says. She pulls the two halves of her sandwich, stringy cheese holding on for a second before breaking apart. “What was that about?”

“SWAT finally got a lead which led them to the bomber. He’s been brought into custody.” 

Gavin’s stomach churns, and he nearly chokes on his soup. Finding out that the man who could have killed him, and his partner, had been caught should make him feel better. He doesn’t know why it doesn’t, he gently sets down his spoon before either of his significant others can notice the way his hand is trembling. It doesn’t work, when he looks up, Nines is staring at him, LED swirling yellow before it settles back into blue. 

“Did they get a confession out of him?” Tina asks, voice sharp and angry. 

“Yes. He also confessed that he thought androids would be sent out to contain the scene. He apparently expressed regret that a human officer was injured.” 

Gavin’s appetite is gone, lost to the bile rising in the back of his throat. He’d hated androids, absolutely despised them, he’d ranted about them, shoved Connor out of his way before the revolution, talked shit, and was utterly disrespectful in every way. He hadn’t believed them to be alive. That didn’t make him less of an asshole. The thought of hurting Nines like that, the thought that he’d once perpetuated such hatred toward an entire sentient species-

He feels the warm weight of Nines’s hands on his shoulders. “We’re alright, my love.” He kisses Gavin’s cheek. “We’re fine. We’re safe. We survived.” 

“It was-” his voice breaks, and he pinches the bridge of his nose, eyes shut tight, trying to keep from crying. “It was weeks ago! Fuck!” It’s stupid, for everything to hit him now, with the time that has passed, with the fact that their suspect is in custody, and has given a confession. Nines is perfect, good as new, and Gavin’s had worse injuries. 

Nines’s hands on his shoulders squeeze, they’re grounding, as is Tina’s hand on his thigh. He hears her sniffling, and opens his eyes to see hers are red-rimmed and glassy. 

All three of them had been avoiding the subject, talking around it in terms of Nines getting a replacement component, and Gavin’s doctor’s, and physical therapy appointments. 

“I heard Nines’s distress call,” Tina whispers, swiping a hand over her cheek when a tear falls. “It came through just as Chris and I were arriving back to the precinct with a drunk and disorderly. Free of background noise, like when you just do the speech in your head thing, and I thought you were too injured to talk. And it was officers down, and a bomb, and,” she takes a deep breath, and Nines reaches out to touch her cheek, his thumb brushing away one of her tears as she leans into the touch. “I couldn’t see either of you. I didn’t know. I wasn’t sure if either of you were-” she doesn’t say it, doesn’t have too, it hangs unspoken between them. “I could have lost you both,” the words are a rush of breath, and it hits Gavin like a punch to the chest. “I could have lost you both.” 

He’d never considered Tina’s side of things, she’d wanted Nines and Gavin to stop being work partners months ago. Gavin thought only of his own selfish desire to keep Nines close, to keep the partner he trusted at his side. He hadn’t considered the fact that if everything went to hell and back, Tina didn’t just risk losing one of her partners, but both of them. 

“I’m sorry you went through that,” Nines says, clearly a little lost, and looking to Gavin for guidance. Tina’s a rock, it’s unlike her to be so overcome with emotion, even Gavin is at a loss of what to do. 

Gavin just holds her hand, uncertain of how to fix this, especially since he feels like he’s falling apart at the seams himself. “I love you, T.” He looks up at Nines still looming over him. “And I love you, Ni.” He needs them to know, needs them to never doubt that, especially not now. 

“You’re so fucking corny,” Tina says with an oddly placed sob. 

“You’re crying,” Gavin snaps. 

“So are you!” 

Nines leaves them only to return with a box of tissues. Gavin gently swats the android in the chest. “How are you so put together, huh?” 

“You’re both here, now, safe, and with me,” Nines says. “You two are my assurance, and strength.” 

Tina blows her nose nosily. “You should probably reconsider your coping mechanisms then,” she says with a little smile. 

“I confess, when either of you are out of sight, I worry,” Nines says as if it’s a dirty secret, like it makes him less, like Gavin and Tina don’t worry just as much in return. “It is an… uncomfortable reality that I cannot protect the two of you from everything.” 

“Same,” Gavin says in lieu of being able to say it better. 

Tina nods. “I need ice cream and cuddles.”

The comment leads the three of them situate themselves on the couch. Tina comments on the candle, as she snuggles into Nines’s side, a pint of ice cream in hand, a spoon sticking out of it. Gavin rests the cane against the arm of the couch, and tucks into Nines’s other side. 

The movie is a light-hearted romantic comedy that Tina doesn’t make it halfway through before falling asleep on Nines’s arm. Gavin fights sleep. He’s seen the movie before, but the end is the best part, and besides, he knows if he falls asleep, Nines will carry him to bed, and he’s a grown ass adult who does not need to be tucked in and-

Gavin awakes as he’s gently laid down in bed. “Shit, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” 

“You need your rest,” Nines replies. “Go back to sleep.” He leaves, but Gavin stays awake. Neither of his partners are in bed with him and despite how frequently they all complain about how small it is, it seems far too big, too empty without them. 

Nines does return a few minutes later, carefully carrying Tina, and laying her on the bed. She doesn’t wake, but does reach out, once her hand gets hold of Gavin’s arm, she settles. When Nines joins, it’s a tight fit, but it’s the right fit. 

::

Nights, including their anniversary, are spent cuddled up together on the couch with the tablet in hand, virtually looking through homes, which lead to a few in person visits. Gavin had figured it would take months even a year of searching to find something the three of them would agree upon, within their budget, and in a neighbourhood they all liked. As it turned out, the third house they saw in person was _i__t_. 

It wasn’t without faults. It was an older home, but it had been mostly renovated. They all agreed that the brick fireplace needed to be refaced, and the main floor bathroom needed to be painted something less offensively pink, but those were small cosmetic details.

They put in an offer, just slightly below asking price, and waited nervously for a call back from their Realtor. It didn’t take long, the process went smoothly, they have a move in date for mid December, it’s cause for celebration. 

Things just continue to get better. Gavin hasn’t been using the cane around the apartment much anymore, his leg is getting stronger, and while it aches every once and a while, it isn’t the bone deep pain from before. He decides he doesn’t need it for their night out- a belated anniversary date- they’d be sitting down at the restaurant anyway. 

He finishes fixing up his hair in the bathroom, and washes excess pomade from his hands. As he dries his hands, Tina walks in. It isn’t often she wears a dress, but the emerald green looks nice on her, tapers at her waist and flares out a little ending just above her knees. He’s a pretty big fan of the v-neck. She uses the mirror to get her dangling earrings in before she gives him a slow once over. “It never fails to surprise me how well you clean up,” she reaches out with both hands, and squishes his cheeks. “And you’re all baby faced now that you’ve shaved.”

Nines stands in the doorway, his figure seeming even longer in the all black attire, he adjusts his gold cuff links as he looks them both over. “You know,” he says slow and enticingly. “We could order in.” 

“I got dressed up, my hair is curled, I’m wearing makeup, we’re going out,” Tina says.

“I haven’t been out of the house since we went house hunting,” Gavin says with a shrug. “Also, steak dinner, fuck yes.” 

“Beer?” Tina asks walking backward in her dainty heels. 

“Built in DD,” Gavin says, pointing a thumb at Nines.

“Nice.” 

Nines sighs, and leads them out. 

DECEMBER

Early December brought snow, and the annual DPD Christmas party. Tina loves the holiday, the festive spirit, but more than anything, she loves the outstanding selection of homemade cookies. She’s been looking forward to the event for weeks. Gavin dresses in his usual street clothes, some worn out blue jeans, and a dark pullover, and a ‘you’re lucky I’m even attending’ attitude. Nines is the opposite, a fine tailored suit that speaks of elegance and refinery. Tina wears her favourite ugly holiday sweater dress which is a long green knit with white pom-poms, paired with red and white stripped tights. Gavin says she looks ‘ho-ho-horrible,’ and she flips him off. 

They walk into the bullpen, and Tina takes Gavin’s hand. It’s the first time he’s been back to the precinct since he was injured. It’s the first time the three of them have been there since their relationship came to light. 

“You good?” Tina whispers, not wanting to be overheard. 

She feels him squeeze and release her hand. “Yeah.” 

The bullpen is nicely decorated. Officer Person had a lot to do with the tinsel they’d surely be finding in June. There is a full Christmas tree in one corner, a menorah on the shelf to the right. There are poinsettias on random desks, along with collections of holiday cards. About half of the attendees went the classy route, and it’s kind of strange to see her fellow officers dressed up. Alternatively, the other half are in look like a festive train-wreck, wearing ugly Christmas sweaters, or festive headgear. Anderson must have lost a bet, because he’s in a full Santa suit. 

“About time you three showed up,” Chris says, and Tina beams at Damien on his father’s hip. “He’s been asking for you.” 

“T!” Damien leans away from Chris, making grabby hands at Tina. “T!” 

“Hey, buddy!” Tina plucks him out of Chris’s arms, and the boy settles on her hip, mostly talking nonsense that she pretends to understand, laughing when he does. “Did you see Santa?”

“San-a!” The boy shrieks with delight, and points over at Hank. 

“That’s right,” she laughs. 

“Glad to see you back on your feet,” Chris says to Gavin. 

Tina watches, expects to see pain on Gavin’s face, or that far away look he sometimes gets. Instead, Gavin smiles. “Man, you have no idea how good it is to be back. Had a chat with Fowler yesterday, I’ll be back on desk duty next week.”

“Nice! It’ll be good to have you back, it’s way too quiet without you.” 

Gavin laughs, leans a little into Nines. 

Everything is remarkably normal with Chris, he’s easy-going, and a good friend. He doesn’t stay long though, Damien starts to fuss, exhaustion weighing down his eyes. 

They’re lucky, Tina thinks, their colleagues avoid asking awkward questions, although she’s aware that they get more looks when they’re all huddled up together. They start to drift as the night goes on. 

She sees Nines across the room playing some kind of game with Officer Person, Captain Fowler, and his new partner, Seth. Gavin is actually talking to Connor, the two of them appearing casual, and at ease. Tina raids the sweets, taking a tree shaped cookie that tastes predominately like icing, while maintaining a conversation with Ben. 

Nines catches her eye across the room, and he beckons her with a finger. She excuses herself, meets Nines with Seth in the middle, where Gavin and Connor are still talking. Gavin pauses mid-sentence when he sees who is at Nines’s side. She watches as he straightens up, always ready for a fight. 

She worries that Gavin’s temper will get the best of him. Gavin’s eyes cold and calculating. 

“Gavin, this is my new partner, Detective Seth McKinney. And Seth, this is-” Nines pauses a moment, his head tilting just slightly to the side, a blip of yellow swirls through his LED. “This is my Gavin.” 

Gavin turns a bright red, and Tina bites down hard on her lower lip to keep from bursting out laughing. 

She had already met Seth at work, already knew of his energetic and overly friendly nature, but even she didn’t expect him to immediately hug Gavin whose arms hung loosely at his sides, pure confusion on his face. 

Seth steps back. “It is so great to finally meet you, Gavin! Nines talks about you all the time, so much so that I feel like I already know you! Even if he didn’t, your record speaks for itself! You’re such a great detective, you’re the one who broke open the Pinsinaro case, right? Even after it had been cold for years, I’d love to pick your brain about it sometime!” 

Tina can see the slight twitch under Gavin’s left eye, and she just about loses it, and figures she better save him before he has an aneurysm. “Another time,” she says, tucking herself under Gavin’s arm. “We better be going home. I’m ready to pass out in a sugar coma.” 

“Of course! It was great to finally meet you, Gavin! Have a good night!” Seth says. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Nines!” 

“Enjoy the rest of the party,” Nines says, and gives a little nod in Connor’s direction which is returned, and the three of them walk out together. 

“Ho-ly shit,” Gavin says the second they’re out in the cold. “Is he a puppy in a human body? I’ve never seen a grown man be that excited over anything, much less general conversation with co-workers!” 

“Be nice,” Nines insists. “He is a good Detective, and I like working with him.” 

Gavin pouts. 

“Not more than I enjoyed working with you, my love.” 

“I’m not jealous.” 

“I didn’t say you were.” 

“But you are,” Tina sing-songs. 

Gavin glares at her. “Shotgun,” he says. “Enjoy the backseat, loser.” 

She flips him off, and thinks this is the worst part about the three of them being together. It’s always one of them awkwardly sitting in the back. 

::

Tina is overjoyed to be moving into the new house, to be officially living under one roof with Gavin and Nines, for them to collectively have a home. The move is pretty easy. They’d previously sold a lot of their furniture since they’d purchased new coffee tables and a new bed, and had those pieces delivered and set up. 

Connor and Seth help Nines move what meager belongings he has from his apartment to the house. Gavin had Chris, and a childhood friend, Johnny help him. Tina had her two older brothers, Henry, and Jake, give her a hand. The house was more work, and everyone eventually ended up there, working together. 

It’s exhausting work, but she’s profoundly grateful for their friends and family who helped them, buys them pizza and beer- standard moving fare. Feels bad that she can’t offer something more to Connor, but the android seems content enough. 

The house is quiet once they all leave, and it’s just the three of them. 

Gavin stands in the kitchen, staring at a pile of boxes. He sighs. “That is a tomorrow problem. I’m exhausted.” 

There is a dull ache between Tina’s shoulders from all the heavy lifting, another time she might ask for a massage, but she honestly just wants to sleep a solid eight hours. “Time to test out that new bed.” She glances over at Nines. “You coming?”

“I could get a lot of this unpacked-”

“You’re coming,” Gavin says. 

“I don’t require-”

“_I require_\- just come to bed,” Gavin snaps. 

Nines’s LED swirls and blinks blue. “Okay.” 

Their bedroom is a small scale disaster. All of their clothes, and miscellaneous belongings are in boxes stacked against the wall. At least they’d made the bed earlier. It’s big, big enough that they could all lay down on their backs and not touch one another. It doesn’t matter though, they all end up tangled up in each other’s arms, half the bed not even in use.

::

It takes them over a week to make a dent in the unpacking and organizing of the house. All three of them were working, and not always on the same shift but they’d finally had a where they were all off, so they could finish.

Gavin pulls out a bottle of wine from the fridge minutes after the contents of the last box had been put away. He pours two glasses, and Tina takes one, gently tapping it against his. 

“We are never leaving this house,” Gavin says. “I’m not moving again.” 

“Back still hurts, old man?” she teases. 

He rolls his eyes. “You’re three years younger than me.” 

They join Nines in the living room where he’s already got the fire started. Snow is falling outside of the large windows, it’s beautiful. The tree with its lights is already set up in the corner, and her box of mix-and-match ornaments that she’d collected over the years is ready to be put to use. 

Gavin is relatively useless at it, hanging only a few before he sits down on the couch, feet propped up on the new coffee table, sipping his wine, appearing content to just watch them. 

Nines on the other hand keeps judging the weight, shape, and colour of each ornament trying to find the very best place for it to go on the tree. Tina just drinks her wine, grabs at random and shoves it on whatever branch is empty. It’s all remarkably domestic. 

She hears a shutter click, and looks over to see Gavin’s phone directed their way, a little smile on his face. 

::

Tina fully believes that Fowler took mercy on them after the year that they’d had, because the odds of all three of them having Christmas day off was next to impossible without some favouritism involved. And it’s not just any Christmas, it’s the first Christmas in their home. 

They lay together in bed. Gavin is laying on his front, one of his legs hitched up and out from under the blankets, and she’s pressed against his side. Nines is sitting up, playing with a lock of her hair. She rolls, and rests her head in his lap. 

“Good morning,” she whispers. 

Nines smiles. “Merry Christmas.” 

She hums a little. “I want cinnamon buns. Oh, and coffee.” 

“Coffee?” Gavin grumbles, he looks over his shoulder, then groans, wiping drool from his mouth. 

“And cinnamon buns,” she entices. 

Gavin just growls a little, seeming to try and decide if staying in bed, or getting coffee was of higher priority. Coffee ultimately won out, and the three of them made their way to the main floor. 

The cinnamon buns just need to be baked, Tina can’t be bothered to do them from scratch. They’re done by the time Gavin finally has his first mug of coffee in him, and is willing to speak past one word answers. 

She takes the plate of warm buns, that are coated in icing into the living room. Nines turns on the tree lights. The presents under it are for Tina’s nieces and nephews that would be joining them for dinner on Boxing Day. They had decided that with the moving costs, and new furniture they wouldn’t buy each other gifts. Besides, It was nice to not have the added shopping stress with everything else that was going on in their lives. 

Gavin scoops up one of the buns, shoving a good half of it in his mouth, and managing to get a bit of icing on his nose in the process. 

“H-awt,” he breathes around the mouthful. 

“No shit, dumbass, I just took them out of the oven,” Tina replies. 

Nines puts a few logs into the fireplace, and sets to getting the kindling lit. Tina finds a cheesy romantic Christmas movie, and shoves her ice cold feet under Gavin’s shirt when he starts to complain. 

Once the fire catches, Nines joins them. Since Tina’s feet have warmed, she removes them from Gavin’s side, and cuddles up instead, stealing a bite of his cinnamon bun. It’s an incredible feeling, finally having what she’d wanted over the past year. To not just be in this wonderful relationship, but to have a real home with the two of them. 

“What’s this bullshit movie called?” Gavin asks, three seconds in. 

“Home Is Where The Heart Is,” she replies. 

Gavin scoffs. 

“It’s true. Home is here with you,” Tina says, kissing Gavin’s cheek, she leans over him to kiss Nines. “And you.” 


End file.
